Resident Evil Will Return To Its Roots

Capcom has listened to fan feedback following Resident Evil 6 and knows that the series must return to its roots going forward, even mentioning the possibility of a reboot.

These comments come from Capcom’s Masachika Kawata, a long-term producer on the iconic survival horror series who spoke to IGN in London while discussing his latest project – bringing last year’s Nintendo 3DS title Resident Evil: Revelations to Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation 3 and PC.

“I think that it’s important for us to have users’ needs in mind when making the games," Kawata told IGN. "At the same time I think a lot of what people want now is to have Chris and Jill in a game, or they want it to look like Resident Evil used to look like. That’s what makes the game work for them. We should be able to start from scratch and reboot it. It would still be Resident Evil. We wouldn’t lose the essential nature of what makes it a good game just by changing the characters.”

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We should be able to start from scratch and reboot it. It would still be Resident Evil. We wouldn’t lose the essential nature of what makes it a good game just by changing the characters.

And what is that essence? What is the essential DNA of the Resident Evil franchise? In recent years, that formula has become increasingly varied with more and more action being introduced to the series. Last Kawata himself even stated that the series had to introduce more and more action to stay relevant, especially in Western markets.

A year later, and following on from the mixed critical reception of titles like Operation Racoon City and Resident Evil 6, Kawata seems to have revised his opinion:

“Survival horror as a genre is never going to be on the same level, financially, as shooters and much more popular, mainstream games. At the same time, I think we need to have confidence to put money behind these projects, and it doesn’t mean we can’t focus on what we need to do as a survival horror game to meet fan’s needs. We are always taking in to account user feedback, even when the users’ are very upset about something.

“Looking at last year - something like, for example, Operation Racoon City – it was quite an experimental attempt in bringing the Resident Evil series to new genres. And in light of that game, certainly I would say that I review my thoughts on that [the importance of action]. But I think it’s undeniable to say the series returning to its roots is important, and those roots are horror.”

And fans of the earlier instalments in the series will be pleased to know that Kawata even went on to say, “The most important thing with a Resident Evil game is to bring across that feeling of horror and fear that’s such a part of the series.”

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“The most important thing with a Resident Evil game is to bring across that feeling of horror and fear that’s such a part of the series.

But where does the future of the Resident Evil series lie? Capcom has started to entrust some of its most iconic franchises to the hands of Western developers. Could we see the same happen with a numbered installment in the Resident Evil franchise or has the experience of Operation Raccoon City put an end to that idea?

“At the end of the day, players care more about how the game plays and if it’s a good game rather than the name on the box or the credits of a developer. We would need to decide what we need to do to make a game in the series – something appealing to the player – and if the answer is to use a certain developer from the West then that will be the answer. We never start with the questions: ‘Shall we have a Western developer do this? How will that turn out?’ This has to be the solution to a problem, rather than the problem in and of itself."

Revelations was released exclusively on Nintendo 3DS last January, and received a positive critical reception – with IGN giving the game a great 8.5 review.

But Kawata was eager to point out that while this wasn’t originally planned but every effort has been made to improve the game – this isn’t just a port, he insists.

“It’s not something we had planned at the time. We were very focussed on the 3DS version for the entirety of that project. But then, in view of the incredibly positive reception of the game, and reaction from both gamers and critics, we saw it as a great opportunity to bring it to a wider audience on consoles.

“The audio visual quality is certainly something that’s been improved. Bringing it to HDTV-based consoles has been a chance to improve the graphics, the texture, and models. Sound has also been improved into a 5.1 mix, and we’ve just fine-tuned the gameplay, taking what we’ve learned from the original game. Generally, just making it a better game overall.”

Resident Evil: Revelations is scheduled to be released on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U on May 24th.

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. You can be part of the world's worst cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.